


This Should Fix It

by Soulstoned



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Crossdressing, Gender Issues, Homophobia, M/M, pair skating, terrible facial hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:28:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28233189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soulstoned/pseuds/Soulstoned
Summary: When commenters online react to Yuri and Otabek’s pair skate by declaring Yuri the girl in the relationship, Yuri responds by trying to prove his masculinity by growing the worst beard Otabek has ever seen.Once Otabek learns the reason behind Yuri’s strange behavior and terrible facial hair, he is determined to help by putting the focus on himself instead. He enlists Mila and Georgi to help.
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 7
Kudos: 60
Collections: Otayuriadvent2020





	This Should Fix It

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 21 of the Superfan Otayuri advent.
> 
> The homophobia tag is there because of commenters online declaring Yuri the girl in the relationship, it doesn't get any more detailed than that.

Otabek doesn’t think anything could ever make him stop being attracted to Yuri, but that beard is pushing it.

Calling it a beard is generous, really. It’s an uneven patchy scraggly mess that makes him look like he has mange. It’s the worst attempt at facial hair Otabek has ever seen in his life. Even the angels are starting to be turned off.

Otabek has tried everything he can think of short of breaking into Yuri’s room to shave him in his sleep. He suspects Lilia may have already tried.

It started when they did a pair skate at a charity gala. Otabek thought it went well, but after a few days Yuri was all but insisting it could never happen again. He eventually came around, but not without changing his costume and a few of the lift elements so that he would be the one doing the lifting at least part of the time.

Otabek isn’t sure why, because he thought it went well, but the new version of the program is good too so he tries to let it go. Unfortunately that was just the beginning. He started dressing differently after that, and then he started growing the beard.

At first it was almost cute, a few days of scruff made Otabek feel like maybe Yuri was just loosening up a little bit. He had always been almost obsessively well-groomed before, so Otabek thought that maybe now that their relationship was more solid and Otabek had been living in Russia for a few months Yuri finally felt like he could relax. But then it kept growing, and growing, but not filling out, just getting progressively more scraggly.

Things came to a head when Otabek decided to grow his own after subtly hinting that he wanted Yuri to shave got him nowhere. His hope was that maybe a taste of the beard burn he had been complaining about would make Yuri see the light. Unfortunately that only seemed to make things worse so after a few days Otabek went back to being clean shaven.

It’s time to consult someone else. Mila knows Yuri pretty well, so Otabek approaches her one day after practice. “Has Yuri seemed odd to you lately?” he asks.

“You mean more than usual?” Mila asks. 

“Well, there’s the beard…”

“Oh, that,” Mila says, cringing. “Sorry, that might be my fault. He was going to cut his hair but I suggested growing a beard instead. I didn’t realize it would be that awful.”

“He’s seventeen and blond, of course it’s awful. Why was he going to cut his hair?” Otabek asks. This is the first he’s heard about that.

Mila looks at him strangely for a minute before replying. “You really don’t read the comments anywhere, do you?”

“No, why would I?” Otabek asks.

“Well, if you did you’d know what’s wrong with Yuri. After your pair skate people left a bunch of comments on the video about him being the girl in the relationship and he kinda took it personally.”

“That’s ridiculous, there is no girl in our relationship,” Otabek says.

Mila shrugs. “I know that, and you know that, but Yuri spent the first fifteen years of his life being called the ‘Russian fairy,’ and now he feels like as soon as he shed that image he’s been stuffed right back into the same box.”

“So how do I fix it?

“I don’t know if you can, you might just have to wait for him to get over it.”

Otabek sighs. “Okay, well thanks for telling me, I’ll see if I can figure something out.”

“No problem, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. I’m tired of looking at that thing, it’s tragic.”

That night Otabek lays in bed trying to think up a solution. Trying to convince the idiots online that there isn’t a girl in their relationship might be beyond his capabilities. He’s not sure if posting about it will help or just fan the flames. 

Getting Yuri to stop reading what people have to say about him would be just as difficult. It’s too bad people didn’t pick him to project their weird hetero nonsense on, he would never even have to know about it.

 _Wait a minute. That could work._ He thinks to himself. He decides to approach Mila about it tomorrow, maybe there’s something she can do to help after all.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

It doesn’t take long to convince Mila to help, but it does take a while to get her to stop laughing. They only have a week to prepare before the next gala, so they have to get started right away. 

The first test run of his new look for the gala leaves a lot to be desired, with Otabek standing in Mila’s apartment with one of her old costumes stretched awkwardly over his broader frame. He’s pretty sure if he moves he’s going to split a seam in the shoulders. 

“I think I might need to call in a professional,” Mila says as she stands back to get a good look at him. It only takes a quick look in the mirror for Otabek to confirm that he looks as stupid as he feels.

Mila is tapping away on her phone when Otabek re-enters the room wearing his own clothes. “Who are you texting?” Otabek asks.

“Georgi has done a few drag shows, he’s going to stop by tomorrow and try to help,” Mila says. 

Otabek is starting to feel like he might be in over his head here. He agrees to let Georgi help and makes plans to come over again the next day before heading home. Yuri is supposed to be coming over for dinner and to hang out for a few hours and he wants to be there when he arrives.

Things are great when they’re alone, it’s just when they’re out in public that Yuri has been acting weird. Otabek can’t believe he didn’t catch on sooner. 

\-----------------------

If Yuri has noticed how much time Otabek has been spending with Mila and Georgi lately, he hasn’t said anything. When the day of the gala comes, Yuri gives Otabek a weird look when Georgi comes over to collect him to help him get ready. “Did you forget how to dress yourself?” he asks.

“Something like that, I’ll see you on the ice,” Otabek says as he follows Georgi into the locker room. 

It’s only when the door closes behind them and Georgi pulls the dress they chose out of the costume bag that it really hits Otabek that he’s about to do this. He’s really about to skate out onto the ice wearing a dress in front of all these people, and cameras. Fuck, his mom is going to see this, should he call and warn her first? He wonders if this must be how Yuri has been feeling all the time lately. That only strengthens his resolve to go through with it.

It was too short notice to get a women’s skating costume that fit, so he’s making due with a regular dress that has enough stretch to it that he can still move, and a pair of tights.

The dress is green to match the jacket on Yuri’s costume and has sequins on the top and a flowing skirt that lands just above his knees. After he puts it on he sits on the bench so Georgi can do his makeup. Once Georgi says he's done, Otabek takes a look in the mirror. The eye makeup is a bit much, but there's no time to change it. He tries to take some comfort in the fact that most people will be seeing him from far away.

"One last thing," Georgi says, producing a long black wig from his bag. "I'm going to need this back when you're done."

Otabek casts a dubious look at the wig. "Won't it fall off?" he asks.

"Not if I pin it down good," Georgi says, moving to put the wig in place as Otabek laces up his skates. 

Otabek can hear the music ending for the performance before his as he stands to exit the locker room. Georgi gives him a final once over and declares him good to go.

"Really, you look great. You should do a drag show with me sometime," Georgi says.

Otabek doesn’t think that's going to happen. 

Mila is waiting for them just outside the door as they walk out. "Wow, I almost didn't recognize you," she says. 

"I feel ridiculous," he says. 

"If this doesn't fix Yuri’s problem, nothing will," she says as Otabek walks past her and toward the rink.

From a distance he can see Yuri skating out onto the ice from the other side, so he picks up his pace to get to the entrance of the rink so he can join him.

As he glides out onto the ice, Yuri’s eyes look like they're about to bug out of his head. "What are you doing!?" Yuri whispers loudly as Otabek takes his starting position. The crowd in the stands is full of chatter as people realize who just skated out onto the ice.

"Making sure nobody ever says you're the girl in our relationship again," Otabek whispers back.

"You really didn't have to do this," Yuri says as they wait for the music to start up.

"I know, but I wanted to help and this was the only idea I had," Otabek says. The crowd is starting to quiet down now as the music finally starts. 

Otabek should have practiced in the dress. He didn't expect it to feel so different to skate in, but it doesn’t take long to adjust. The hair is a little harder. It keeps getting in his face. He understands now why skaters with long hair usually tie it up before they go out onto the ice.

Their performance goes off without a hitch, even though there are points during it when it looks like Yuri is struggling not to laugh. It's good to see him having fun again.

"So is this going to be a thing?" Yuri asks as they exit the rink. 

"Hopefully once is enough, but if people start giving you trouble just let me know and I'll do it again," Otabek says. 

"Well, thanks. I think I had it under control, but this should speed things up a little bit. I just hope you know what you're in for."

"It'll be fine, I never read the comments about us anyway. If people are going to be idiots I'd rather they be idiots about me than you. I know we're both guys."

"I guess I've been acting pretty weird lately," says Yuri.

"Just a little," Otabek says as he reaches out to give a slight tug to Yuri's beard. "If this thing is important to you, just say the word and I'll never mention it again. It's your face and you can do whatever you want with it and I'll still love you, but if you're just growing it because you think you need to make people see you as a man, I want you to know I never stopped."

Yuri sinks down in his seat. "It's pretty bad, isn't it?"

Otabek can’t bring himself to lie. "Yeah, but like I said, it's your face."

"I kept thinking maybe if I let it keep growing the rest would catch up but that's not happening."

"Maybe in a few years you'll have better luck, but I don't think that's going to happen right now."

Yuri nods. "I'll shave when I get home tonight, but I still want to keep lifting you, it's fun and I like the challenge."

"That sounds good to me," Otabek says.

"Would you mind to lean in for a selfie? I'm pretty sure I'm never going to see this again so I want a picture."

Otabek laughs and leans in. This is no worse than the video of their performance that's sure to hit the internet before the night is over. 

Yuri holds out his phone and snaps a picture then turns it around so Otabek can see. "Do you mind if I post this?" he asks.

"No, go ahead," Otabek says.

By morning the picture has broken Yuri’s previous record for most comments on a selfie, and the best part is, Otabek never even has to know.


End file.
